Southeast US Day #10: Asheville to Charlotte, North Carolina- July 30, 2019

I woke up at 3:30 am in just incredible pain. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and played a game on my iPad for about a half hour until it subsided. I was very happy that I was able to get back to sleep.
I heard my husband K get up around 7, but I was able to sleep until 7:43. We were not in a hurry today, since we had no appointments until evening.  So, it wasn't until 8:42 that we took the elevator downstairs to get breakfast.
I ordered a delicious bacon, spinach, mushroom and provolone cheese omelet for $10.50 and my orange juice was another $2.95. K ordered blueberry pancakes for $5.95 and coffee for $2.
We took our time packing up and didn't check out until 11:17. The odometer read 58,109 as we left. Using the handy Asheville map, we made our way to the Civic Center parking garage, where we found a spot on the second level. I made a note to myself that it was on the corner of Walnut and Rankin.
There was an interesting looking shop right across from where we walked out called Moonlight Makers. They'd just recently opened and had fun t-shirts, tea towels and more that they printed. I picked up a few things as gifts.
Malaprop's Bookstore was another good stop. First of all, I'm a fan of Mrs. Malaprop ever since a high school class read The Rivals and I got to be her. It got me hooked on word play. Second of all, my family loves a good bookstore.  I found a few things here, of course.  Outside, there was a really nice piece of art around the bed at the base of a tree. I like all the art in town, not to mention the buildings with interesting shapes.

We were getting hungry, so we made our way along looking for someplace good to eat. We settled on Red Ginger Dimsum and Tapas, partially because the name represented two different cultures and that seemed odd. It was 12:40, when we arrived and, due to the temperature, chose to eat inside the very modern, clean cut restaurant. We each chose a Bento Box for $9.95, with K choosing salmon and me choosing chicken, of course. While we waited for our food, we watched a woman at the bar patiently snapping green beans, obviously for the evening meal. Our meals did not come in boxes, but rather on trays. The food was absolutely fantastic.

When we left, we did some more shopping. One place that was really terrific was Woolworth Walk, which was full of locally-made or at least North Carolina-made art. It also had a real soda fountain, no doubt the same one that was there, when it was still a Woolworth's. This one is so old, there was even a staircase near the front down to the lower floor. We wound up buying a photo of a sunset printed on canvas for a new thin shelf we have in our foyer. The painting was downstairs and I was glad I ignored my screaming knees.
We found a public restroom, where a homeless woman was washing up in the ladies room. K bought a Coke Zero for $1.25 from a vending machine to cool us and make up for no Coke at lunch. Then, we headed back to the car. When we left the garage at 2:13, it only cost us $3.75.
We headed east on I-40. At 2:37 (58,141), we stopped at the McDowell County Rest Area and were back on the road at 3:06. Just 33 minutes later, near Hildebran, I was surprised/ disgusted to see a Confederate flag. Seriously?

We soon turned south and reached our destination in Charlotte at 5:06 (58,251). We were visiting the home of our best man M and his wife G. K and M were actually born in the same hospital in Frederick, Maryland, albeit a few days apart. They've been friends since grade school and both attended UNC Chapel Hill. It was at Chapel Hill that M met his wife G. We haven't seen them in years, but it is always like no time has passed, with how easy it is to get into long conversations.
They took us to a Red Rocks Cafe for dinner. They food was wonderful and the conversation continued so long, that we seemed to be shutting the place down.

We went back to their house and talked more. Their daughter K, who was in town from her current in home in Argentina, was even with us for a bit. We were given her childhood bedroom for the night.
Another lovely day!